


Fairy Cakes

by sabswrites



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Birthday, Candy, Fluff, Gen, sweets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 00:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11543835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabswrites/pseuds/sabswrites
Summary: Emma Swan has always had a sweet tooth, even if her life hadn’t always been sweet to her.





	Fairy Cakes

To her own admission, Emma had always valued sweets a bit more than she probably should. Growing up they were a very rare occurrence and often found in more dubious forms. Candy bars stolen from movie theaters, lollipops snuck into pockets, a hidden collection of jelly sweets hidden away in her backpack. It was messy and unhealthy but it was comfort. Sugar was sweet to her when the world was not. Many of her most favorite memories were built on this philosophy.

The first thing Emma ever shoplifted was a KitKit bar from a gas station when she was eight years old. Her caretaker had brought her and the other children in with her to pay for gas, and she had wandered off from the group. Her eyes lit up as they met an entire aisle filled with different chocolates and cookies. All wrapped in colorful packing with vibrant images. She wasn’t sure why she did it, she had never even had a KitKat before, but something urged her to just take it. Before anyone could stop her she stuffed it deep into her coat pocket and innocuously rejoined the group. That evening, when she crawled under her bed to retrieve the treat and eat as quickly as she could, for a small moment she felt something close to normal. 

Two years and four homes later, when she was ten, she organized a heist with a fellow classmate. They had overheard teachers discussing the array of Christmas cookies in the teacher lounge, and after a certain incident involving the deprivation of recess time, the rest unfolded itself. Afterwards, the pair split the goods with a pinky promise of confidentiality and firm a handshake. It wasn’t exactly a friendship, but it was an alliance, and Emma didn’t have many of either. 

The summer after her sophomore year, she met a boy in a grocery store. He was working behind the counter and had caught her trying to shove a box of push-up pops into her bag. She back fell onto the hard tile floor in shock, it was the first time she was ever caught, and Emma’s hands hand been shaking as she handed the box back over with guilt in her eyes and embarrassment on her face. The boy smiled softly and placed them pack on the shelf.

“You know I have some of these at my house,” he said, “I can give you a few if you’d like.” He grinned and offered his hand.

She was uncertain and untrusting, but also anxious and uncertain, so she agreed. For the rest of the summer until she was relocated again, she’d come by the boy’s house and he’d greet her with a popsicle and a smile. 

When she was with Neal it was a bit different. They stole to survive, but he always managed to slip a chocolate bar or two for her. Her favorites were the For the first time she had someone looking out for her. Someone who cared for her and who she thought would never leave. From her prison cell she missed the chocolate, but missed the way her heart fluttered when he handed it to her more. 

As she grew older and made a career for herself, she was able to try new things. Even if her personal life was bitter and dull, it didn’t mean her taste buds couldn’t live vibrantly. She indulged herself in creamy crème brûlées and cool tiramisus. She turned to sugar when she felt lonely, and her job involved enough running that she could afford to. On her twenty-eighth birthday, she bought herself a cupcake with vanilla icing. A small treat for her equally small company. 

_“I actually made a wish, that I didn’t have to be alone on my birthday.”_

In Storybrooke, there was the hot chocolate thing of course. The first day she was there Henry had ordered it exactly how she liked it: lots of whipped cream, and cinnamon on top. For the first time in a split second reaction, she had thought maybe she could be a mother. She then discovered Mary-Margaret took hers the same way too. _A family thing,_ she later thought. 

On her wedding day, she was presented with a seven tier cake, complete with mountains of frosting, pearl shaped sprinkles, and a miniature pirate and princess sat atop it. The dancing was wonderful, as were the kind wishes from friends and family, but that cake had to be the best part. She laughed carelessly with her head thrown back and her heart full as Killian gently wiped frosting from her cheek. Her life had become a lot sweeter.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday gift for my friend Adithi! emmasfairytale.tumblr.com so go wish her a lovely day!
> 
> Come say hi at spaceclub.tumblr.com!


End file.
